The Challenge

The Figure 8 Voyage, a solo, non-stop, passage of some 35,000 miles, will be the first small boat circumnavigation of both The North and South American continents and Antarctica in one season.

figure 8 lambert

Figure 8 Proposed Route

Preparation

From departure to return, The Figure 8 Voyage will require roughly a year to complete, so planning is everything. Whatever I need for survival must be on board. This includes sufficient food, drinking water, fuel for cooking and warmth, durable clothing for all climates, medicines and first-aid equipment, a supply of tools and enough spare parts to repair any failure.

 Timing

Success is dependent upon traversing some 25,000 sea miles through the Pacific, Southern and Atlantic oceans so as to arrive at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage just as the route opens. Arrive too early in the spring and the passage will be clogged with ice; arrive too late and there is a chance of being frozen in before making the exit at Bering Strait for the return to San Francisco.

Endurance

The The Figure 8 Voyage puts me many months in some of the planet’s most difficult ocean. Gales in the south will be replaced by ice pack and icebergs in the north. Mental toughness will also be necessary. I will be cold and wet many days and always short of sleep. The pressure to push the boat must always be weighed against keeping the boat and myself safe. And then there’s a year of being alone.